


Collision

by Skylar0Grace



Series: Fractured Hearts Trilogy [2]
Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Supernatural
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-03-04
Updated: 2010-03-04
Packaged: 2017-12-04 18:23:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 18,731
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/713668
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skylar0Grace/pseuds/Skylar0Grace
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It was bound to happen…</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

* * *

_We’re looking at what happens when worlds collide - Quentin Williams_

  
The Impala drove down the lonely highway, its headlights the only source of light. As Sam Winchester drove, Dean Winchester took a swig of the bottle. He placed it back between his knees and once again picked up the tweezers.

“Try to drive properly this time!” Dean growled at his brother.

Sam took a deep breath and refrained from retorting. Dean winced in pain as he dug around the hole in his bicep with the tweezers. He pulled and the tweezers came free with a bullet between them.

“Damn amateurs,” Dean said. Sam remained silent.

They had been hunting a demon hell bent on taking over an entire town. Everything had been going well until two young men had stumbled upon them. They had insisted they were hunters. Dean and Sam went around one side of the house where the demon was holed up while the other two had gone around the other. Sam and Dean had sent the demon back to hell, with a degree of difficulty, when the other two had come racing into the room, one of them firing wildly. Dean had been hit in the arm and had been less than impressed. Sam had managed to get them to leave before Dean could do any real damage to them. Sam kept his eyes on the road; he wasn’t sure where they were headed, he had just driven out of town.

Dean took another swig and began wrapping the wound in the sleeve of his shirt which he had torn off for access. Sam glanced across at his brother in time to see him look up at the road ahead.

“Sam, look out!” he yelled.

Sam’s eyes snapped forward and he saw someone on the road in front of them. He slammed his foot on the brake and turned the wheel to the right to avoid them. The car slid along the road before resting heavily next to a tree.

“Damn it Sam!” Dean yelled.

Sam was stunned. They had come out of nowhere. He looked over at the now clear road. Had they run off? He looked back at Dean who held the heel of his hand to his forehead to stop the flow of blood. He hadn’t been wearing a seatbelt and had hit his head on the door. Sam looked down and undid his seatbelt and as he looked up he saw a shadow at Dean’s window. Dean glanced up in time to see the window break sending shards of glass down on him before darkness engulfed them both.

* * *

“Hey! Hey! Come on, wake up man!”

Dean opened his eyes slowly. As the room swam into view, Dean realised his arms were shackled above his head and he struggled to remember how he had ended up there. He remembered Sam crashing his car and…Sam! His head shot around, desperate to find his little brother. He ignored the “Oh, thank God!” that came from the man, looking the worse for wear, on his left and found Sam across the room on his right. There was a young woman shackled beside Sam, but the brunette looked very dead. There were several chains hanging from the ceiling and the floor was wet, with what, Dean wasn’t sure. There was only one door leading into the room. It looked like a very heavy concrete door which was no doubt locked from the outside.

“Sam!” Dean yelled across the room. Sam stirred at his brothers’ voice. Slowly, he lifted his head to look at the chains above him. He sighed and looked at Dean.

“Do you remember what happened?” Dean asked. Sam shook his head.

“Nope. I saw a shadow at your window, the glass broke, then nothing. Who’s that?” he asked, nodding his head at the man beside Dean. The man looked relieved that he was finally being acknowledged.

“I’m Ben. I’ve been here for two days I think.”

He noticed the Winchesters struggling to free themselves from the chains, their arms tugging on the chains trying to find a weak link. They both tried to add their body weight to the chains in the hope of breaking them but only succeeded in causing further injuries.

“I’ve already tried that,” Ben said with impatience. Dean continued to struggle with the chains, ignoring the man beside him and Sam looked across with compassion.

“How did you get here?” Sam asked.

“I’m not sure, I was driving out of town when someone walked out in front of me. I hit the brakes and the next thing I know, I’m chained here. She was already here.” He motioned toward the girl beside Sam. Sam looked to his left and carefully looked at the woman beside him.

“She’s…” Sam began. Dean stopped struggling and looked at Sam.

“Dead,” Ben said carefully. “She died yesterday. Said she didn’t remember how she got here. Same story. Was driving, someone walked out…She was sick. She kept coughing…” Ben trailed off. Sam gave him a small, sad smile and there was a short silence with each man lost in his thoughts, before Sam broke it.

“Has anyone come in here?”

Both Dean and Sam looked at Ben who shifted uncomfortably under their gaze. His eyes dropped to the floor beneath his feet which had suddenly become interesting. Dean, who was closest, spoke first.

“What did you see?” he asked, peering at Ben. Ben squirmed once more.

“You wouldn’t even believe me,” Ben said quietly, looking down at the floor.

“I think you would be surprised at what we believe,” Sam said.

Ben looked up at Sam as if searching for a semblance of truth in his eyes and sighed before he addressed him. “I’m not sure exactly. When I heard the door open I hung my head. I only glanced up once as it was shackling you up. It had its back to me but” he faltered momentarily, “it was some sort of monster. I’ve never seen anything like it before.” He dropped his head again.

“Ritual sacrifice?” Sam asked Dean.

Ben’s head shot up as he quizzically looked at the two men who not only believed the story he deemed crazy in his mind, but had thoughts on it.

“Probably,” Dean said, a little nonchalantly.

He once again pulled on his chains, using his weight to try to pull them from the ceiling. His wrists were starting to bruise and his already injured shoulder was in a lot of pain. As he once again pulled down on his chains, he heard a noise at the door and he looked over at Ben who had automatically dropped his head. Dean considered this action before deeming it redundant: it already knew he was there. If it was a sacrifice, they weren’t going to kill him before it was necessary. He looked across at Sam, who glanced at him before they both turned to the door.

The door slowly opened and two men walked in. One looked to be about thirty, with dark hair and white skin. The other looked barely 18 with blonde, spiked hair. It didn’t appear that either had seen the sun in a while. The older one was dragging in a woman whose head hung forward, her long blonde hair covering her face. She was wearing jeans and a baby blue singlet top which had a very large blood stain across the middle. The teen was hauling another young woman, taller than the first, with long brown hair. She had blood in the front of her hair from what appeared to be a head wound. The men seemed surprised to see Sam and Dean glowering at them.

“Hey! Do you want to let us go, man?” Dean asked, not expecting a reply in the affirmative.

The older man just looked at him and raised an eyebrow, not stopping in his task to chain up the blonde woman with the set of chains across from Ben. The teen unceremoniously hung up the brunette beside Sam, her head falling back in the process and the head wound becoming visible. He leaned forward and smelt her neck, emitting a low growl as he did and Sam felt the pit of his stomach drop as he realised the kid was a vampire. As the kid leant forward and licked her neck Sam struggled against his chains.

“Get your teeth off of her,” he yelled, still thrashing around. The older one turned to him.

“Hey, knock it off. We need them. We don’t want any other mistakes,” he said pointedly. He walked over and stood in between the brothers and both Sam and Dean eyed the man in front of them. As he walked to the brunette on Sam’s left, he turned around to the room.

“It won’t be long now,” he said with an unnerving grin.

“Don’t count your chickens,” Dean retorted.

The man just smiled and walked out the door, followed quickly by a very unhappy teen vampire and Dean and Sam could hear the door locking behind them. Sam took the opportunity to look around the room. They needed to find a way to escape. He started pulling on the chains again, knowing it was useless but not knowing what else to do. As he struggled, the woman beside him stirred, lifting her head and looked at the chains above her. She sighed.

“Damn. She’s gonna kill me,” Dawn said, pulling on the chains. “I wish I was back at Oxford.” She pulled again on the chains. “It’s not even Tuesday!” she said emphatically, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

Dawn all of a sudden noticed someone was beside her. She turned her head and saw the questioning look in a young man’s eyes, a small smile on his lips. For a moment she was just staring at the gorgeous man beside her, before she realised his mouth was moving.

“Huh?” she said, a little sheepishly.

“Come here often?” he repeated, his small smile turning into a grin.

Dawn was glad she was held up by chains as she felt her knees go weak. Pulling herself together she shrugged.

“I’m used to it, though it has been a while,” she said offering a small smile.

She suddenly blushed as she realised what she had said and he suppressed a grin. She quickly turned back to her chains.

“How did you end up here?” he asked her. Dawn turned back to him and opened her mouth to reply when a thought hit her.

“Oh God! Buffy!” She turned frantically round in her chains and spotted Buffy slumped in her chains, blood covering her shirt. A lot of blood. How could she have been so stupid? Here she was going gaga over some guy and her sister was bleeding to death. Panic overwhelmed her as she frantically struggled.

At the sound of Buffy’s name, Dean’s head shot up. He didn’t notice Sam turn to him as he looked at the brunette turn around in her chains until she stopped at the blonde on her right and started frantically thrashing around. Dean took note of her slumped figure and the blood on her shirt. It was a lot. With a quiet panic, he pulled with all of his strength on his chains, ignoring the pain from his shoulder and now bleeding wrists.

Buffy woke to the sound of chains banging rather loudly around her. Frustrated, she went to move her hands and felt they were restrained, only then feeling they weight on her shoulders. Struggling to stand, she heard Dawn scream her name. Panic struck her as her eyes reluctantly flung open and she tilted her head up. The chains stopped moving and she was thankful for some release from the massive headache. She turned her head to the left and saw Dawn and a man and woman chained up. Focusing on Dawn she swallowed painfully.

“Dawnie, are you okay?” Still not able to take her full weight on her legs she struggled to stand, feeling a sharp pain in her stomach. Her eyes closed in pain and Dawn yelled at her again.

“Buffy! Stay with me.”

Finally gaining some perspective now that she knew Buffy wasn’t dead, she made a quick decision. Sam panicked momentarily as he saw Dawn’s head drop. He was about to yell out to her when he noticed her lips moving. She was praying? Struggling to hear her words, he noticed her hands had opened out and her head was slowly tilting up. He recognised the language as Latin and an orange spark leapt from the ends of her fingers and began to slowly encircle Buffy.

He looked across at Dean. His faced had paled and he looked slightly panicked but his eyes never left Buffy. When Sam looked back to Dawn, her head had flung back. Still chanting, the glow became brighter and brighter. With the final words, her head slumped forward, exhausted. Buffy’s head snapped up as she looked at Dawn. Sam saw panic sweep her face and knew that if Buffy was panicking, it wasn’t good.

Sam noticed Buffy look up at her chains and give a hard pull. A small speck of dust floated down and Sam was surprised. Another three pulls from Buffy and he heard a snap as the chains fell around her. She quickly made her way over to Dawn, seemingly oblivious to Sam and the rest of the room. She broke the long chains from around her wrists with somewhat ease as her hands moved to lift Dawn’s face up and she shook Dawn, calling her name. Dawn submitted a small groan and opened her eyes to Buffy’s with a small smile. Sam felt his panic subside.

“Feel better?” she asked in a small voice. Sam saw Buffy’s eyes narrow.

“You are so grounded!” Buffy replied, a small smile on her lips.

Sam shifted his weight to his other foot. The small movement made Buffy’s hands drop from Dawn’s face as she turned to him ready to fight. Sam opened his hands in surrender.

“Hey Buffy,” he said with a small, sheepish smile.

“Sam?” she queried, her face a mix of confusion and pain.

She saw his eyes quickly dart in front of him before landing back on her. She slowly turned around to see him standing almost behind her. She tried to read his face but all she saw was a blank expression.

“Dean,” she whispered.


	2. Chapter 2

* * *

_Between too early and too late, there is never more than a moment – Franz Werfel_

  
Dean stood speechless. He almost didn’t hear her whisper his name. He was glad he was restrained, because all he wanted to do was pull her in his arms and kiss her. At the same time, he felt the stabs of guilt for leaving her in the first place. Leaving didn’t make him forget her like he thought it would. He only missed her more and it was a struggle not to call her. He hoped his face didn’t betray the inner turmoil he was facing.

“Slayer,” he heard from beside him.

Dean turned and looked at Ben, whose face had suddenly contorted, his features misshapen. Before Dean had a chance to digest this information, Ben had snapped his chains with a loud growl. Buffy dropped into a fighting stance.

“You really don’t want to do this,” Buffy said angrily to Ben. “I’m not in the mood!”

As Ben circled around toward Dawn, Buffy held her ground. Dawn was weak enough and couldn’t defend herself. Ben looked surprised as he had clearly expected her to move. He decided to use this weakness against her.

“I think I will go with Tinkerbelle first. I think I’d like the spark to her,” Ben said, moving closer. Buffy stood her ground, her voice dropping low.

“You have to come through me first,” she spat back.

As he neared her, he suddenly rushed. Buffy lunged out with a kick to the head. It connected but he used her momentum to pull her leg around and slam her into the wall behind him. Her head hit with a sickening crack. She slid dazed to the ground, a small amount of blood getting into her eyes from the gash appearing on her forehead. As she struggled to stand, Dean started thrashing against his chains, watching the vampire get closer to Dawn. Her head still hung limp, her body swaying a little as she struggled with her strength.

“Hey Ben!” Dean yelled across the room. The vampire stopped his advance as he turned to look at Dean.  
“You know, you really should work on your lying. Spotted you the minute I saw you.” Ben’s head cocked to the side as he let out a small snort.

“Sure you did,” he replied. “You were fooled just like the others. I can’t believe how easy it was. You recognised the others but you fell for my lies, lock, stock and barrel. You humans are all the same.”

He gave Dean a disgusted look but the look on his face turned from disgust to shock in a split second. Before he could utter a syllable, he exploded into dust, Buffy’s wooden heeled boot coming to rest on the ground. She gave a weak smile of thanks to Dean before she shakily made her way to Dawn, the heel of her hand pushed against her forehead.

Reaching Dawn, she lifted her head and tried to get Dawn to open her eyes.

“Come on Dawnie, I need you to stay with me this time. Don’t make me drag your sorry ass outta here.” Dawn’s eyelids fluttered open then closed again.

“Dawnie!” Buffy shouted. “Dawnie!” Dawn lifted her head with a small scowl on her face.

“It’s Dawn,” she replied pointedly. Buffy smiled.

“We’ll talk about it again once we’re out of here. Can you walk?”

Dawn gave a small shake of her head and Buffy sighed. The headache she had was pounding her head so fiercely. She pressed her temple again willing it to stop throbbing.

She gave a final sigh before turning around and walking in the opposite direction. She only stumbled once, but it made Dean worry as she moved toward him. She stood behind him on her toes and grabbed the cuffs on his wrists. He could feel her body pressed against his. He closed his eyes when she let out a small breath on the back of his neck. After two pulls, the chains snapped free, breaking halfway between the cuffs and the chains.

“Thanks,” he said, his eyes opening and body turning to look at her.

He put his hand up to her forehead and let his thumb brush under her wound. She gave a small sigh at the contact and closed her eyes. Suddenly realising how close they were, Dean pulled his hand away as if he were burnt.

Buffy opened her eyes in confusion and saw Dean turning back around. Getting a nod from Sam to signal that he was okay, Dean moved over to Dawn. He picked her up by her waist to take her weight off of her feet. Dawn relaxed.

Buffy walked toward Sam, a little more steady on her feet. Her vision had cleared and the throbbing headache had become a dull ache. Sam gave a small, apologetic smile. Buffy returned the smile and reached up to break his cuffs. Realising that she couldn’t reach, Sam bent his leg behind him. Thanking him, she stood on the back of his calf and yanked on the chain, breaking it half way up the chain. Sam moved over to Dawn and swept her up in his arms. Dean stood back as Buffy reached up to break Dawn’s chains.

They heard the sound of the bolt in the door sliding back. Dean bent down and withdrew a knife from his boot. The door swung open just as Dean started moving forward. The two previous vampires entered and looked shocked that the prisoners were free. They turned just in time to see Buffy break Dawn’s chains.

“Slayer!” they hissed.

As Dean and Buffy fought the two vampires side by side, Sam moved to the side of the room with Dawn in his arms. Despite the uneasiness between the two, they fought well and they had each others back. Buffy staked the younger vampire before he could get a good hit in. Dean threw a punch at the older vampire that caught him off guard and sent him into Buffy. She pushed a stake into his back using the momentum.

“Let’s go,” Buffy said to Sam as she led the way out of the room.

Upon exiting, her senses were heightened as she decided which way to go. Obviously in a basement of some kind, Buffy headed to the right towards the stairs. Sam followed, still carrying Dawn, and Dean took up the rear. As Buffy reached the top of the stairs she held up her fist. It was a manoeuvre that she had seen Riley do countless times and had taken to using. They stopped and Buffy strained to hear.

The steps opened into what looked to be the corridor of a house and she could see the front door at the end of it. She knew the voices were ahead, between them and the door, but she wasn’t sure which direction they were. Slowly she made her way into the corridor. Sam hesitated before he was moved to the side by Dean.

Buffy heard the voices begin to move. They weren’t coming into the corridor but they were moving further away and she took the opportunity hoping that nothing lay on the other side of the front door. Signalling them to move, Buffy motioned for Dean to move for the front door. Nodding, he quickly moved. Sam followed behind and Buffy kept an eye out at the other end of the corridor.

As Dean opened the front door, he sighed with relief when he saw his Impala. It had a dent in the driver’s side door but it wasn’t something he couldn’t fix. Beside it was what appeared to be Dawn and Buffy’s car and it looked written off. Scanning the front yard, Dean could see that they were on a farm of sorts. There was not another house in sight and only a long, dirt path leading off into the distance. Dean made a run for the car and smiled as soon as he saw the keys in the ignition. Sam was right behind him - he silently opened the back door and placed Dawn in the backseat before following and placing her head on his lap.

Buffy saw her car and cringed. Giles was not going to be happy about replacing another car. At least this time Buffy could say it wasn’t the result of bad driving. She suddenly remembered her weapons bag in the backseat. As Dean saw her veer toward her car he ran up to her.

“It won’t work,” he said.

“I need my bag,” she replied, matching his low whisper.

He grabbed her hand as she reached for the door. “Leave it.”

“I can’t,” she said as she opened the back door.

It made a loud squeak as it opened. Dean glanced up as he saw a demon exit the front door. It yelled. Dean grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the Impala. Luckily, her hand had enclosed around her bag and as she was moved back, the bag came with her. Dean let go of her hand as he raced to the drivers’ door. Climbing in, he saw a number of demons come racing out of the door. He started the engine and it rolled over without a fight. Buffy jumped it and slammed her door.

“Go, go, go, go, go!”

The wheels spun momentarily on the dirt road before gripping and speeding off. Not bothering to look out of the mirror, Dean took the corners with skill. After a minute Dean began to wonder how far they had to go before they hit the highway. Hoping he had taken the right direction, he scanned the road in front for any signs of the highway.

He saw the bitumen and took his foot off the accelerator, turning the wheel as hard as he could to the right. The car swung onto the road, barley missing a car coming from the opposite direction. The driver swerved to avoid them and leaned heavily on the horn.

“Where are you going?” Buffy asked, “The town is the other way.”

“We are going to see a contact of mine,” Dean said, glancing over at Buffy.

“I need to go back and kill them.”

“What were they Buff?” Dawn asked from the backseat.

“Sisterhood of something. I can’t remember. They open Hellmouths and I have to stop them.”

“Sisterhood of Jhe?” Dawn asked, lifting her head from Sam’s lap to look at Buffy. “Damn!”

Sam looked down at her questioningly as she laid her head back in his lap. As she opened her mouth to explain, Dean and Buffy began to argue.

“I have a contact near here. He knows the area. Can give us an idea. We can’t go in half cocked!”

“I can do this on my own!”

“We’re going back with you. End of story.”

Hoping to diffuse an argument, Sam asked Dean about the contact.

“It’s Thurman,” Dean replied, “A damn good hunter. Helped me out with a case a few years back and has given me information on others.”

Dean flipped open his mobile and scrolled through the numbers. Hitting ‘send’ he placed the phone to his ear. It was answered almost immediately.

“Hey man. Just escaped from a couple of demons in your area. Need you to help out. You up for it?” He listened to the man on the other end. As the car headlights lit up a sign, Dean took note of the numbers.  
“Yeah. We’ll be there in about 20 minutes. See ya.” With that he hung up the phone and placed it on the seat beside him.

“Look, I’m more than capable of stopping an apocalypse. Done more than enough of them, that’s for sure.”

“I’m not doubting you Buffy,” Dean replied. His voice had lost its earlier edge with her and softened dramatically. He sighed. “I just don’t want you going in alone. I’m giving you back up whether you want it or not.”

From the backseat, Dawn smiled as she looked at Dean. Buffy had told her about the job she did with them. As soon as Buffy had said his name in the cellar, she had known. She didn’t know what had made them leave but she knew it wasn’t because he didn’t care about her. He wouldn’t have reacted the way he did with her if he didn’t care. Hell, maybe he even loved her.

Sam saw Dawn smile and gave his own little one. Despite the fact that she was obviously exhausted, she remained awake. He could see her features soften as she watched Dean and Buffy talking. He could get lost in her eyes. The baby blues were full of so much expression. And obviously she had power. She had healed her sister despite the toll to herself. Sam loved the way her smile lit up her whole face. Wait a second. Love? Where the hell had that come from? He didn’t want to go there again.

Dawn looked up to see Sam frowning out the window. He had a look of hurt in his eyes and Dawn wondered why. She wanted to know what had given him so much pain that he still carried it around with him.

The car grew quiet as all four occupants got lost in their thoughts and Dean drove to the house well known to him; he probably knew the way here almost as well as Bobby’s. As Dean drove down the silent street, he scanned the road for anything out of the ordinary. The area was fairly new. The houses had big lots and were fairly separated from one another and as far as he knew, Halliar had been willed the house by his father. After he began hunting, he began using it as a safe house of sorts.

Pulling in front of the new looking house, he turned the keys in the ignition and the engine fell silent.

“We’re here,” Dean announced, although to whom he wasn’t sure. Buffy turned around in her seat to face Dawn.

“How are you doing Dawnie?” Buffy asked her little sister. “Do you think you can walk?” Dawn sat up in the backseat giving an awkward glance at Sam.

“Yeah, I’m okay. I’ve gotten some of my strength back. I’ll be better once I sleep.”

“You can sleep here. Thurman keeps a few rooms open.” Buffy turned her attention back to Dean.

“And you trust him?” She wasn’t questioning his judgement; she just wanted to know the depth of his trust for the friend before she brought her sister in.

“He’s a good bloke. I trust him.”

With a nod from Buffy, all four occupants exited the Impala. Buffy took her bag with her and they walked to the front door. As Buffy and Dean reached the steps, the front door opened.

‘Hey man!” the occupant of the house said, looking down at their cuffs. “Been in any trouble lately?”

As Dean opened his mouth to respond, he surprisingly heard Buffy exclaim, “Owen?”

His friend turned toward Buffy and his smile got even wider as he replied, “Buffy?” before he leaned forward to hug her.


	3. Chapter 3

* * *

_Memories are the key not to the past, but to the future - Unknown_

  
Dean felt a pang of jealousy as he watched Buffy and Owen hug. Buffy pulled back from the hug and Owen noticed her injuries and blood soaked shirt. Looking back at Dean, he could see similar injuries. Sam and Dawn then stepped up on the porch and Owen rushed them all inside throwing over his shoulder the mention of a first aid kit and keys as he disappeared further in the house. Dean led them into the lounge room. As Dawn sat down on a couch next to Sam, Buffy sat on the other side and looked over Dawn, checking for injuries. Dawn brushed her hands away.

“I’m fine, just tired.”

Buffy glared at her as she leaned forward and poked the gash on her forehead. Dawn gasped in pain as Buffy stuck her tongue out.

“You’re not fine. You’re injured too. And if you ever do that again, I’ll make sure to follow through on the grounding threat.” Buffy warned. Dawn rolled her eyes.

“One: I’m too old to be grounded. Two: If I hadn’t healed you, we may not have gotten out. You probably wouldn’t have. That was a serious wound Buffy; you’d lost a lot of blood.” Dawn’s eyes betrayed her as worry etched its way across her face.

Buffy gave a small smile and pulled her into a hug. “Slayer healing remember? And I thought I taught you better. You could have broken us all free.”

Dawn pulled back in horror. “I wasn’t going to let you die.” Buffy opened her mouth to respond and Dawn held up her hand, silencing her. “No. This isn’t up for discussion. You have to stop treating me like a child. I’m aware of the risks in this life Buffy. But if I can help lessen them, I will. It made sense. We needed to be free and may have had to fight our way out. I wasn’t going to let our best fighter sit it out because she would’ve rather bled to death.”

“Dawnie,” Buffy began.

“It’s Dawn,” Dawn cut in with a wry smile.

They were interrupted by Owen’s reappearance in the room. He carried a tray with a first aid kit, a handful of keys and four glasses of water. Taking the initiative, Dean stepped forward and grabbed a glass, downing the liquid in one gulp. He was followed quickly by Sam. Dawn reached for a glass and began sipping the water.

Buffy just shook her head. “No thanks, I’m not thirsty.” Owen raised an eyebrow.

“It’s holy water Buffy. Just set his mind at ease,” Dean spoke up.

Buffy looked up at Dean and then gave a sigh. She took the last remaining glass off the tray and swallowed. Satisfied, Owen placed the tray on the coffee table and opened the first aid kit. Noticing Dean watching Buffy, he handed the gauze and saline to Dean.

“Can you patch up for me? I’m going to get some papers.”

“Uh, sure.”

With that Owen nodded and left the room. Sam signalled he was fine as he moved forward trying different keys in the lock. The second key worked and he undid both cuffs. Dean moved over and knelt in front of Dawn. He made quick work of the cut, cleaning and covering it. He then moved over to Buffy. Though the gash on her forehead was already healing, Dean cleaned the area and covered it. Still maintaining eye contact, Buffy took the remaining gauze and saline from him and attended to his wound. In involuntary shudder ran through Dean as Buffy’s hand touched his head. As Dean got back up, Owen returned to the room carrying a laptop and some papers.

“Okay, let me know what they looked like. Must have been pretty big to get the jump on you,” Owen said, grinning at Dean. Dean scowled in return.

“Sisterhood of Jhe,” Dawn said, speaking up. “We don’t really need a lot of help researching them. Buffy’s dealt with them before. Just need to find out their timetable.”

Owen nodded. “And what, may I ask, brought you lovely ladies into this wonderful life?” His eyes focused on the laptop as his fingers danced across the keyboard.

“Slayer,” Buffy responded, shrugging.

Owen paused as he looked up at Buffy. “Makes sense.”

Buffy was surprised at his easy acceptance and raised her eyebrows. “You’re not surprised?”

Owen didn’t even look up from the screen. “Well, a vampire attacked us on our first date. It makes sense now,” he clarified, shrugging.

“You two dated?” Dean asked, desperately trying to keep the jealousy out of his voice. Owen looked up at Dean. He tried to make his point clear as he addressed his friend.

“It was a long time ago,” Owen explained. He returned to the keyboard and began typing again.

“What about you?” Buffy asked.

Owen’s attention returned to the stack of papers as he searched for and found a book in the middle of them. He opened it and flicked through pages.

“Well, it began with you actually. Nearly getting killed really did make me feel alive and whilst I am the first to admit that going to a bar and starting a fight wasn’t the best idea,” he looked up at Buffy who smiled, “It did start me on the path to where I am now.” He returned to his book. “A few weeks later I ran into, and accidently killed, a vampire. Ben Green actually,” he shrugged. “The rest, they say is history!” Owen frowned suddenly at the text in front of him.

“What is it?”

Never taking his eyes off the book, he turned the book back a page and the forward to the same passage again. He looked up at her and turned the laptop around. Dean moved behind Sam to look at the screen.

“I’ve found the Sisterhood of Jhe. They open hellmouths. And I found a reference to a ritual. I can’t read it. It’s in another language,” he said, holding the book up.

Dawn leaned forward and took the book from his hands. She scanned the page in front of her. Looking up at the room she frowned, lost in thought before turning back to the book and flipping forward a number of pages.

“What does it say?” Buffy prompted when Dawn hadn’t spoken.

Dawn frowned again and she looked up at Buffy. “Same old, same old, really. Opening the hellmouth this, ritual that,” she replied, waving her hand in front of her.

“You can read that?” Sam asked with surprise.

“Sure, it’s Sumerian. I can read five languages. I’m working on a sixth.” She smiled.

“What’s with the frowny face?” Buffy asked.

“It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. Based on the lunar cycle, I think the ritual is supposed to be performed in a week. But I didn’t think there was a hellmouth near here. There is a week of sacrifices before the final part which opens the hellmouth.”

Buffy looked confused.

“They are supposed to perform the sacrifices over the hellmouth. But the nearest one is a number of hours away. If we were the sacrifices why keep us there?”

“What if they knew it was us Dawn? What if them getting us wasn’t an accident?” Buffy was trying to make sense of what was currently going through her head.

“”No, that doesn’t work. Even with Slayer blood, you can’t just create a hellmouth.” Dawn stood up and walked to the other side of the room.

“What if they were using the time to open a portal, not a hellmouth?” Everyone seemed confused by Buffy’s question and Dawn thought about it before shaking her head.

“No, I don’t think that would work. I don’t know if they could use your blood to open a portal. I mean, it’s not bad or anything, but I haven’t heard of a ritual that specifically requires the Slayer’s blood.”

Buffy answered her quietly. “What if it is not my blood they need,”

She looked straight at Dawn. Dawn was looking at the carpet trying to understand what she was saying. Suddenly, her head shot up, her eyes were as wide as saucers. Surprisingly, Dean stepped forward. He had finally realised what she was asking.

“You’re not doing it again Buffy,” she looked up at him shocked when she saw the resolve on his face.

“Oh, no,” Dawn repeated, pacing the room. She looked distraught. Memories were flooding back to her again and she felt like the kid, standing at the top of the tower, watching her sister jump. Sam stood.

“What’s going on?” he asked. Dawn continued to pace whilst Dean and Buffy stared at each other. Owen just looked confused.

“Did I lose any blood?” she looked at Buffy searching for an answer, panic starting to creep into her voice. Buffy turned to her.

Calmly, she replied. “I don’t know. But we will deal with it if we have to.”

“No!” Dean said more forcefully this time.

“It shouldn’t be happening again. I thought it couldn’t happen again!” Dawn said, shouting at Buffy. Buffy stood up and walked over to her.

“Dawn, I don’t know. But you have a lot of power.” Buffy continued as her sister shook her head frantically. “Look, it was just a suggestion. We don’t even really know what is going on yet.”

Sam stepped forward. “What is going on?”

Dean didn’t answer him and just looked at Buffy. Buffy looked to Dawn who gave a small nod.

“When Dawn was younger, a hell god used her blood to open a portal. She wanted to return to her own dimension, but it caused a tear here. It started a chain reaction which would have eventually torn all of the dimensions and bled them into ours, essentially bringing hell on earth.”

“And you died to stop it,” Dean said, pain clearly evident in his voice. A tear slid down Dawn’s cheek.

“I did what I had to do to stop it. It was the only way.”

“No it wasn’t,” Dawn said in a small voice. Buffy turned to her. Dawn continued to look at the ground so she grabbed her forcefully by the shoulders.

“Look at me,” Buffy said. Dawn slowly raised her eyes to Buffy’s. “I will always protect you. I was NOT going to let you die and I don’t blame you.”

“Why her blood?” Sam asked. His heart was breaking as he saw the woman in front of him falling apart. He felt the need to protect her.

Buffy turned to him but didn’t answer. She loosened her grip on Dawn’s shoulders but it was Dawn who spoke first. “I was originally mystic energy. ‘The Key’. It could open the portals between worlds. When Glory found the monks protecting ‘The Key’, they performed a ritual to put it in human form and send me to the Slayer for protection. They altered everyone’s memories so that it would appear as if I had always been there.”

“You HAVE always been there as far as I am concerned,” Buffy replied turning back to Dawn. “You ARE my sister.” Dawn looked at the ground. “I’ve told you before and I’ll tell you again. You could not be more of a pain in my ass if you weren’t.”

Sam spoke, interrupting their moment. “Well, what do we do to stop this? I mean, obviously prevention is better than cure, right?” Everyone looked at him.

“I go back and kill them all,” Buffy said, never faltering.

Dean moved in front of her. “Well, before we put that extensive plan into action, why don’t we figure out exactly what is going on? Maybe we can come up with something better.”

“Don’t tell me how to do my job!” she said angrily facing him square on, instinctively stepping between him and Dawn.

Owen stood, finally speaking to the group. “I think we should find out what’s going on. For all we know, it’s just a family reunion.” Everybody turned to face him. He held up his palms in a peaceful surrender. “Now I suggest we all go to sleep. A lot of things have happened tonight. We will all feel refreshed in the morning and we can discuss strategy then.”

Everyone conceded so he pointed up the stairs. As the group followed him up, he pointed out their rooms, explaining there were fresh towels in the rooms and pointing lastly to the bathroom at the end of the corridor. There were a few mumbled ‘goodnights’ as they entered their rooms. Once inside their room, Sam turned to Dean.

“What the hell man?” he said, trying to keep his voice low so that they weren’t overheard. Dean walked over to his bed and started taking off his boots.

“Leave it alone Sammy,” he warned.

“No! You’re in love with her and the first thing you do is fight with her when you see her again? How is that logical?”

“I never said…Look; I’m not going to let her sacrifice herself again. I won’t let her die.”

Dean pulled the blankets over his head, effectively ending the conversation. Sam sighed and climbed into his bed.

Nobody slept well that night. Each one was thinking about the events of the evening. One by one, they all drifted off into a fitful sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

* * *

_A gem cannot be polished without friction, nor a man perfected without trials – Chinese proverb_

 

Dean woke up the next morning and rolled over to find Sam still asleep. Quietly climbing out of bed, he showered and dressed before heading down the stairs. Smelling coffee, he followed his nose into the kitchen to find Owen sitting at the island drinking coffee and reading an old book. A fresh pot sat in the centre, surrounded by four mugs. Taking one, he filled it with coffee and sat opposite Owen. Owen looked up at Dean.

“Didn’t sleep well, huh?” he asked. Dean just groaned. Closing his book, he stared at Dean.

“So, how long have you been in love with her?” he finally asked Dean.

Dean’s mouth dropped open. “What?”

Owen shook his head. “Come on man. I’ve known you for too long.”

Dean scoffed at him. “Obviously you have known her longer.”

Owen laughed. “That was ten years ago and it was one date. You have absolutely no reason to be jealous of me. I’m not gonna try and steal your girl.”

Dean sighed. “She’s not my girl.”

Owen shook his head. “Why not? You’re in love with her; she’s in love with you. What’s the problem?”

Dean looked down into his coffee as he pondered the best way to explain it. “I didn’t tell her about the Devil’s gate.”

Owen stopped as his hand reached for the coffee pot. “What? Why didn’t you tell her?”

Dean put his head in his hands. “I won’t bring her into that.”

“She’s a Slayer.” Owen filled his mug up with coffee.

Dean looked up from his hands. “Exactly! She has enough things coming after her already. She’ll be better off if I’m not in her life. We closed the Devil’s Gate but we weren’t in time. Now there are numerous demons out there vying for a bit of Dean Winchester and not in a good way. I’ve already had one demon purposely mess with my family. I lost Mum, Dad; Sam lost Jess. When they realise that she’s a part of my life, they’ll track her down too.”

“Do you hear yourself? Are you crazy? You’re giving her up, you’re letting these demons win. You can’t keep yourself from living cause you’re afraid of what might happen.”

Dean sat up straight. “I’m not putting her in the firing line just to prove a point. I won’t put her in that position.”

“Shouldn’t she get to decide that?” said a voice behind him.

Dean turned around to see Buffy standing in the doorway.

“Um, I’m just going to go look for something,” Owen said, standing up and walking out of the room.

He went and sat in the lounge room and watched the staircase, hoping to divert Sam or Dawn before they went into the kitchen. He had a feeling Buffy and Dean had a lot to talk about.

* * *

Sam woke up and saw that Dean was already awake. Grabbing a towel and some clean clothes out of the duffel bag, he opened the bedroom door in time to see Dawn opening the bathroom door with a towel still wrapped around her hair. She gave a small smile.

“Ah, I didn’t know anyone was still asleep. I’m not sure how much hot water is left,” Dawn said, sheepishly bowing her head.

“It’s okay. I’m used to cold showers.”

Dawn’s head shot up with a look of confusion and a deep blush. Realising how his sentence sounded, he explained, a small blush creeping into his own cheeks.

“I mean, Dean has really long showers. I try to get up before him so I at least get some hot water.” He gave a small smile, hoping she believed him. Considering the large smile she gave in return, he thought she did.

“I know what you mean. We have a school of slayers in Cleveland, well actually we have a few, but the one in Cleveland is the biggest. It is more like a boarding school because the girls live there and we train them. I was in Africa recently recruiting a few girls, trying to find as many as I could. I came back a few months ago because Buffy needed someone to wallow with and…” Dawn clamped a hand over her mouth. “Oh no! Please don’t tell her I told you anything. She’s trying really hard to pretend that ‘him’ being here is not affecting her. I know she would definitely kill me if she found out I had just told you. I’m…”

“Dawn!” Sam said, moving toward her and her eyes widened. “I’m not going to say anything to her. I promise.”

Sam stopped right in front of her and Dawn’s head dropped to the floor. She was silent for a moment and Sam wondered if he should take a step back but Dawn looked up at Sam, her eyes slightly moist.

“Does he even love her?”

Sam grabbed her arm and pulled her into her room. Once they were inside, he closed the door behind him. Dawn moved and sat on her bed, pulling the towel from her hair. She picked at it. Sam sighed and sat down next to her.

“Yes. He is in love with her,” he said finally, looking over at Dawn. She looked up at him and he saw fire in her eyes. He knew she was protecting her sister.

“Then why did you leave? Willow told me that you left with him. Said it was the best thing to do.”

He could see the pain in her eyes. It seemed like she was sizing him up. Sam held up his hand. “I didn’t say it was the best thing, I said it was the right thing.” Dawn opened her mouth to say something. He just shook his head and continued. “I agreed with his reasons. Look, you don’t know about our family. You don’t understand.” He stopped when he felt his throat tighten. Dawn laid a hand on his arm.

“Then help me to understand.”

He looked into her eyes and sighed. He knew it would come out sooner or later. And he thought he may be falling in love with Dawn; if she were going to run, it would be better if it was sooner rather than later.

“We had a demon coming after our family; it had been for 25 years. It killed my mother. My dad found out it was a demon and had been hunting it until it got him just over a year ago. He raised us to be hunters.” He took a breath. “It killed my girlfriend at college too, anyone that had been close.” He looked up at Dawn, his voice a little stronger now. “Dean is trying to protect her. A little while ago we were there when the Devil’s Gate was opened and we closed it but some demons got out. A lot of them were because of our family, because of Dean. There are a few that are out for blood.”

Dawn softened. “Don’t you think we could help? I mean no one has better resources than we do. We could help you find them, defeat them.”

“Then what? Do you know about the contract he has?”

He was filled with hurt again as he realised, once again, that his brother was dying for him.

“Of course we know. Buffy has the whole Watcher’s Council working on it. And I know he can’t get out of it but…” Dawn was cut off by Sam turning to look at her. His eyebrows were knotted together.

“What do you mean he can’t get out of it?” Dawn felt her stomach tighten. ‘Was it possible he didn’t know?’ Sam stared at her. Afraid he knew what the answer was, why Dean had been acting the way he had about Sam trying to get him out of the deal, he slowly stood up.

“It’s just…” Dawn sighed. “If he breaks the contract, tries to get out of it, tries to save himself, then the demon will take you. It was part of the deal.” Sam looked at her horrified. “I thought you knew.”

Sam features darkened. He scowled and turned towards the door.

“Sam, wait!”

He didn’t even slow down as he walked over to the door and threw it open.

* * *

“Why didn’t you tell me earlier?” Buffy asked, sitting across from Dean. “I could have helped you.”

“You don’t know that.”

His voice had taken a hard edge. He told Sam that he didn’t do chick flick moments; he wasn’t good at expressing his emotions and he didn’t like it.

“We’d been hunting this demon our whole lives and that was just one. Now there’s a whole bunch more.”

“But we have almost endless resources. We have texts and slayers. We could put a stop to this. Why won’t you let me help you?” Buffy was a little hurt by his tone. Didn’t he see what she was trying to do?

“Because I am in love with you Buffy!” he said exasperated, standing up from his stool. “Because I will not lose you. I won’t let it be my fault you are dead.” Dean had seen what his mother and Jess’ deaths had done to his Dad and Sam. Losing her would be bad enough. But knowing it was his fault…

“Dean -”

“You can’t get out of it?” interrupted a very angry Sam from the doorway.

Dawn was standing beside him looking very guilty and Owen stood behind them looking confused. Dean and Buffy both frowned at Dawn. She gave an apologetic smile.

“Son of a bitch!” Dean exclaimed to no one in particular, shaking his head.

Sam stormed toward him. “It’s true?”

Dean turned to face him. “It was my decision Sam. My choice!”

Owen stepped into the room past Dawn who remained sheepishly in the doorway.

“What did you do Dean?”

“I died and he sold his soul to get me back. I’ve spent the last four months trying to get him out of it, doing everything I can think of and he knew all along! There is no way out!” Sam said furiously.

Owen turned to Dean, seemingly calm. “How long did you get?”

He noticed Buffy look at her hands on the counter and cringe. Dean sighed.

“One year,” Dean answered.

There was a silence around the room. Dawn stood in the doorway looking guilty for causing the scene before her. Buffy sat at the counter, her head bowed and eyes closed and a hurt look obvious on her face. Owen was standing beside her watching Dean’s face. He had known Dean for a number of years, fought side by side with him. He knew the lengths he would go to, to protect those he loved.

Dean was watching Buffy. It caused him pain to see her so upset. He wanted to turn to Sam and reassure him but he didn’t know what words to use or how to calm down his obvious rage. Sam was furious. He couldn’t separate one thought from another in his head.

The blinding pain hit Sam like a freight train. He screamed out in pain and Dean caught him before he hit the floor. Dawn rushed forward but was stopped by Buffy. The others stood back while Dean held onto Sam. In thirty seconds it was over. Sam sat up, breathing heavily and holding his head. Owen moved over to a cupboard and pulled out a box of Panadol. He filled a glass with water and handed it to a very grateful Sam.

“Alright Sammy, what did you see?”

“It’s Sam.”

Dean just gave him the same older brother stare he had been giving him his whole life. Sam moved away from him and sat at the counter, looking up at Dawn. Buffy saw the exchange and her body tightened in fear.

“Oh, no, no, no, no, no.”

Dawn put her arm around her older sister. Buffy put her head in her hands, took a deep breath and looked up at Sam. Her jaw was set firmly.

“Tell me the details.”

Sam finished swallowing the water. He addressed Buffy but he threw glances often at Dawn.

“An old building, stone, I think; like in a castle. You were unconscious in front of a fireplace on what I think was the first floor and there was blood all over the fireplace behind you. I think it may have been yours. You had been beaten pretty badly. Dawn was tied to the balcony on the second story. She didn’t appear to be hurt, but she wasn’t awake either. Dean was trying to get to her but frankly getting his ass handed to him.

It was definitely the Jhe but they had a large number of vampires working for them. I saw what looked like one of the demons chanting by the balcony door. Dean managed to reach Dawn and started trying to free her when a demon killed him.” Sam looked at Dean. As angry as he had been, the vision had felt real. The pain of losing his brother had felt real. He turned back to Buffy. “Dawn woke up, started chanting. I think it was a protection spell but it was too late. The demon that killed Dean stabbed her and the portal opened.”

Sam closed his eyes. Dean put his hand on Sam’s shoulder and was relieved when he didn’t shrug it off. Buffy took a moment to digest the news. It was like Glory all over again. She looked to Owen and saw the sympathy in his eyes.

“Is there any place like that around here?”

“Not really. We don’t have a lot of big houses here, especially not old. But about 40 minutes east there are some old mansions. Could be what you are looking for, though they are mostly standing over the beach.” Owen looked to Sam for confirmation.

“Sorry, I didn’t see water. But it doesn’t mean it isn’t the right place. The balcony was over lawn though.”

“Did you see us?”

Sam shook his head. “No. Only Dawn, Buffy and Dean.” He and Dawn looked at each other.

“Let’s go into the lounge room. I’ll see if I can track down this house. It may be where they are holed up and if we can find it, we could take them out first,” Owen said.

Buffy nodded. “Good idea.”

They all moved from the kitchen to the lounge room. Sam and Dawn sat on the lounge whilst Buffy and Dean hovered above their respective siblings and Owen sat on the floor typing away on the laptop. As houses from the area became visible in satellite images, Sam tried to see if any were familiar.

The lounge room window suddenly shattered as a body came through. Buffy and Dean dropped into fighting positions whilst Dawn and Sam leapt off the couch, Owen coming to stand beside them. The man who had entered slowly stood up from his crouching position on the floor. A smile broke across his face before his eyes turned black.


	5. Chapter 5

* * *

_Absence is to love what wind is to fire; it extinguishes the small, it enkindles the great - Comte DeBussy-Rabutin_

 

“Give me what I came for and I’ll leave you all alive.”

“Only if you ask nicely,” Buffy replied with a smile.

She moved forward to attack. The man raised his left hand and she was flung backwards into the wall behind Sam and Dawn. Sam and Dawn backed further down the room trying to make for the back exit whilst Owen moved to get some weapons from behind him. The man moved his hand toward Dean and flung Dean in the same direction as the fallen slayer. With satisfaction, he dropped his hand and advanced, his eyes focused solely on Dawn. Buffy and Dean got up from their heap on the floor. The man turned to them and growled.

“Get down!” he yelled in frustration.

His hand shot forward and a ball of green energy shot out. Dean pushed Buffy to the side but the ball stopped a metre in front of him, hitting a yellow wall. Buffy stood up as the demon looked shocked. He raised an eyebrow.

“Got yourselves an effective little spell. How much can it hold?”

He gave a smile and a series of blasts shot from his hands. They all stopped short. He glared and eyed the group in front of him, stopping when his eyes fell back on Dawn who was standing slightly off to the side. Her lips were moving and her head was bowed in concentration.

“It only works as long as you’re alive,” he said, flicking his right wrist.

A small pot behind Dawn was flung into her, knocking her over and effectively dropping the shield. Buffy and Dean advanced on him again

“Not today kiddies. I’ve got business to attend to.”

Raising his hand again, they were both flung into the wall hard. Dean slid down, unconscious. Buffy battled for consciousness as she struggled to stand. This time, he flung her into Owen, sending them both into a wall and into a heap on the floor. From her spot, Dawn reached out and grabbed Sam’s hand. Drawing on his energy, she spoke a few words and they both disappeared. The demon screamed in anger. Turning around, he left, running from the house.

* * *

Buffy and Dean started stirring. Buffy looked over to the fallen desk on the floor and realised Dawn was gone. She stood up in a panic.

“Dawn?”

Dean sat up. His head was killing him. He opened his eyes when he heard Buffy yell for Dawn, panic obvious. Looking at the desk where he last saw them, he realised both Sam and Dawn were gone. He stood up.

“Sam?”

Their eyes met across the room. It was if there was a mirror placed between them; fear and panic reflected in each others eyes. Buffy and Dean ran to the window and looked out. Although it was day, there was no one on the street.

“Dawn?” “Sam?” both yelled simultaneously.

Buffy turned to Dean crestfallen. He placed his arms around her and held her momentarily before letting her go and moving quickly to Owen.

“Thurman? Man, are you okay?” Owen groaned and Dean helped him sit up. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah, I’m okay.”

“Good. Now let’s get on this computer and find the damn house.”He tried to keep the anger out but it showed.

“What was that?” Dean asked turning back to Buffy as Owen moved the laptop onto his lap.

“The shield? A friend of ours taught it to Dawn before she died.”

“Would it have drained her energy?” He remembered what Sam had said about Dawn being unconscious in the vision. Buffy shook her head.

“Eventually it would have but she can hold it for a while and it wasn’t up that long. But she was knocked down by that desk. I don’t know if she would have even been conscious.”

Buffy cringed when she remembered Sam had told her Dawn looked unconscious on the balcony and a tear started to well up in her eyes. Dean pulled her into a hug.

“We’ll find her. I promise,” he whispered.

Owen looked up at the two briefly before turning his attention back to the computer. “I obviously didn’t see the house but I am looking for houses in the area with the same characteristics. Balcony over lawn, stone, two storey, etc.”

Buffy and Dean moved over to the computer and stood behind him looking at the satellite images, Dean keeping his arms around Buffy’s waist and offering comfort.

* * *

Sam groaned and lifted his head. He looked around and saw nothing familiar. It appeared that they were lying in a park. He moved over to Dawn and rolled her over. She was still out. Picking her up off the ground, he carried her in his arms to a park bench. Realising the need for a location, he tried to determine where they were but there were only trees surrounding them. Sam gently shook Dawn. He had no idea what had happened. He remembered getting hit by the desk, feeling Dawn reach for him and then feeling really tired. He woke up here.

Dawn slowly came to. She felt a warm body against her and snuggled into it. Then her headache hit. She raised her hand to her head and groaned in pain. As she slowly opened her eyes, she saw Sam’s green ones, looking down at her concerned. Her face flushed and she sat up abruptly.

“Where are we?”

“I was hoping you could tell me. I have no idea where we are or how we got here.”

Dawn looked away for a moment with a pensive look on her face then looked back at him with wide eyes as she stood up and looked around.

“Oh no. I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry.”

Dawn spun around trying to look for a street sign or landmark but found only trees. Sam grabbed her wrists and looked in her eyes.

“Tell me what happened?” he asked softly. Dawn looked down.

“I knew he was coming our way and so I did the only thing I could think of and teleported. But I needed more energy because I was taking you so I used yours,” she looked up at him ashamed. “I’m really sorry Sam.”

“Hey, hey, it’s okay. I don’t mind. But we need to find out where we are.”

He looked around for a path. Finding one, he led her to the right and hoped it led out of the park. Dawn followed him, allowing him to lead holding her hand. After a few moments of walking, he turned to look at Dawn.

“Why did you take me with you?”

She blushed and gave a half smile. “I didn’t want to go by myself?”

Sam smiled. He turned back to see light shining through the trees. As they came to the street, Dawn searched for a street sign.

“I know where we are,” Sam said, “I saw it when we came in.” Sam pointed to the left. “I think it was this way. I remember seeing this park sign on the way here.”

“When I teleported us, I was trying to concentrate but I couldn’t concentrate properly. I guess we ended up here. At least it wasn’t in a wall or something,” she half-heartedly joked.

Sam smiled at her, looking her straight in the eyes. “I trust you.”

* * *

Buffy was frantically pacing. It had been an hour and with each passing minute, she got more and more wound up. She had given up looking at houses. She needed to do something. She heard footsteps on the porch and tensed. She turned to Dean and saw that he had straightened too. Owen reached for the sword beside him. They heard a low voice. Buffy moved to the wall.

Her muscles relaxed when she saw Sam’s head poke through. Dean strode past her and pulled his brother into a hug. As the door opened wider she saw Dawn.

“Dawn!” she said running to her. As she hugged her, she heard Dean speak.

“Where the hell were you guys?”

Sam pointed behind him to Dawn. “She teleported us out; it didn’t work so well and we landed in the park.”

Owen came up behind Dean with a flask. “Sorry man,” he said apologetically. “But we have no idea if it is you.”

Sam took the flask and took a swig of holy water before passing it to Dawn. Owen sighed in relief.

“Teleporting huh? You are just a bundle of tricks, aren’t you?”

The five moved inside, Owen repositioning himself at the laptop. Dawn and Sam sat back on the lounge and Dean and Buffy stood above them like concerned parents.

“You know you shouldn’t be teleporting in a battle Dawn. You don’t have the reserves. Besides, how did you take him with you?”

Buffy frowned. Willow had taught Dawn that teleporting took a fair bit of energy out of someone with Dawn’s skill level. At the moment she could only take herself and Willow warned against it in battle as it could tap all of her energy, leaving her defenceless. Dawn glanced at Sam before looking up at Buffy.

“I sorta borrowed it?” she said a little sheepishly.

“What?” Dean asked confused. Buffy turned to Dean.

“She took some of Sam’s to get them both out.” She turned back to them, this time addressing Sam concerned. “How do you feel?”

“I feel fine. I was a little tired when I woke up but I feel fine now.”

“You’re lucky she didn’t drain you.” Owen said, speaking up.

Dean started to get worried. “What?”

Dawn stood up getting a little angry at the accusatory direction this was taking. “I can choose how much I take. I was careful.”

Owen held up his hands. “I wasn’t accusing you of anything. I just know that you can’t always control how much you take from someone you don’t know. You don’t know their strengths and weaknesses or how much they could stand to lose.”

Dawn turned to Buffy, desperate for someone to understand. “I could feel his energy. I only took what I needed to get us safe. That’s all.”

“It’s okay,” Sam soothed, placing a hand on her shoulder. Dawn calmed and leaned back into the lounge and Dean saw the affection pass between them. He decided to trust Sam in this instance and he relaxed his stance. Buffy wasn’t going to admonish Dawn in front of everyone, so she changed the topic.

“Are we anywhere on this house yet?”

Owen showed Sam the different houses and Sam recognised the third. “That’s it I think. Same brickwork, same balcony.”

“Well,” Buffy said nodding, “I’ll do a little recon tonight. See if they are there or not. You guys stay here and do what you can to protect the house. You up for that Dawn?” Dawn nodded.

“I’ll go with you,” Dean said raising his hands before Buffy could speak. “You need to get out there somehow and if we split up, we can get it done faster. If something happens, we’ll know.” Buffy just nodded.

* * *

The drive to the mansion was done in silence, neither one knowing what to say. Dean parked a short distance from the mansion, just behind the woods surrounding three of the sides. Buffy turned to face him.

“I’ll take the left side, you take the right. We only need to know what we are facing, numbers and stuff. We’ll meet up round the other side. Okay?”

She opened her door, holding her stake in her hand and Dean put his hand on her arm. She turned back to him. “Be careful.”

“You too.”

Exiting quietly from the car, they moved in opposite directions toward the mansion, staying close to the shadows. Buffy dusted four vamps along her path. On the first floor Buffy could see a nest of vampires. There were thirty or so and lights were coming from the second storey. She saw one demon move in front of a window but that was all. No matter how hard she looked, she couldn’t move close enough to see more without risking being spotted. As she reached the halfway point, a vampire jumped her from behind trying to take a bite out of her neck. Buffy scolded herself for not paying enough attention to her surroundings.

“Sorry,” she whispered, “but I’m with someone else tonight. Maybe later?”

Buffy threw him over her shoulder. He landed in front of her and she moved down to stake him just as he reached up and pulled her down, twisting the arm holding the stake around, causing her to yelp in pain. As she hit the ground beside him, she rolled, trying to get some distance and ignoring the pain in her elbow. She flipped into a standing position, squaring off against the vampire again. She kept one eye on him whilst she looked for her fallen stake.

The vampire lunged at her once again and Buffy used the force of it to push her back, taking him with her as she flipped them both. Her elbow screamed in agony. She delivered one good punch before he pushed her off, sending her into a nearby tree. A stab of pain ran up her spine as she shakily stood on her feet, using the tree to stand. The vampire smiled as he advanced. Buffy steadied herself for the next attack as her attacker burst into a cloud of dust, leaving behind a worried looking Dean. She gave a small smile and sunk to the ground.

“Buffy are you okay?” Dean asked running over and falling to his knees beside her, placing his hands on her shoulders.

Buffy nodded. “Just give me a sec.”

She started shouldering off her leather jacket and was surprised when Dean leaned forward to help. Glancing apologetically as she hissed in pain, he helped her get both arms out and she took a look at her elbow. It wasn’t broken but it was definitely dislocated and already an ugly purple colour. Without having to ask, Dean held both parts of her arm as she leaned her head on his chest, took a deep breath and pushed it back into place. Tears ran freely down her face and Dean just held onto her, making sure her arm was free. After the wave of pain subsided, Buffy pulled back and looked at Dean. He gave her a small smile and took off his jacket and outer shirt, using the shirt as a makeshift sling. After tying the knot around her neck, Dean put his jacket back on, draped hers over her shoulders and helped her stand.

“Ready to go?”

“Yeah. Thanks,” she said, giving him a small smile. He returned the smile and led the way back out of the woods surrounding the mansion.

“What did you find?” Buffy asked, breaking the silence.

“About five or six vampires inside. There is some sort of altar set up on the sea side. I also saw maybe three or four of those Sisterhood demons. You?”

“Four vamps, five including the one you took out, patrolling the area. Maybe thirty inside. I only saw one demon on the second floor.” Dean looked over at her as she held her arm in the sling. She noted his look.

“Slayer healing. I’ll be as right as rain in no time!” she said cheerily before a frown fell over her face. “Does rain fix things? I mean, okay, droughts, yeah, but anything else? Was that phrase invented for droughts?” She turned to look at Dean and saw a huge, genuine smile on his face.

“What?”

Dean continued to smile as he looked ahead. “Nothing.”

The tree line finally broke and the Impala appeared before them. Dean opened her door and held it open as Buffy got in. Buffy gave a shy smile as Dean closed the door and walked around to the driver’s side.

“Buffy,” Dean began as he sat in his seat and closed his door.

He turned to face her just as she moved toward him, using her good hand to hold his face as she kissed him. Dean was momentarily surprised but responded in kind, deepening the kiss and once again enjoying the feeling of her soft lips against his. Kissing her now made him realise just how much he had missed it, how much he had missed her. As he pulled back, he saw her smiling at him.

“Let’s go tell the others what we found,” he said, returning her smile.

The engine rolled over effortlessly and the Impala drove off into the darkness.


	6. Chapter 6

* * *

  
_Love must be as much a light as it is a flame – Henry David Thoreau_  
 

Dawn was standing before the front window when the Impala pulled up. She saw Dean jump quickly out of the car and race around to the passenger side. Dawn felt a knot form in her stomach and she ran to the front door and threw it open, running to where Buffy was slowly getting out of the car.

“Buffy, are you alright?” Buffy waved away Dawn’s hands.

“I’m fine. Sore elbow but it will heal.” Buffy looked up and saw Sam standing on the porch with a worried look. “How did you go with the house?” Dawn looked over at Sam and began walking inside with Buffy.

“It’s protected the best we could. A few spells, Sam put salt and stuff around, doors and windows locked, etc” Dawn waved a hand in front of her face.

The girls walked past Sam and Buffy sat on the lounge. Dean and Sam walked in right behind them. Dawn took a seat beside Buffy as Dean walked into the kitchen and came back with a first aid kit. Removing her jacket and his shirt, he re-bandaged her arm and placed an ice pack on her elbow.

“How many were there?” Dawn asked quietly. Buffy looked up at Dawn.

“A large nest. We’re guessing about thirty to forty vamps. Less than ten of the Jhe. Dean saw some sort of altar. You might be able to get something off that.” Dean nodded as Dawn shook her head.

“I meant how many did this?” Dawn asked, gesturing to Buffy’s elbow.

Buffy frowned. “Oh. Um, just one.” She looked down at the clean white bandage covering her arm and noticed small streaks of bruising sticking out from under it..

“Was it one of the Jhe?”

“No. A vamp. And before you ask, he was just a regular vamp. I don’t even think he was that old. He just got the jump on me, that’s all. Dean dusted him.” Buffy looked up at her with a look that told her to leave it and Dawn remained silent so Buffy continued. “I think we should go back tomorrow during the day. We can get the drop on the vamps. Do you think you can do that sunlight spell?”

Dawn bit her lower lip. “It shouldn’t be a problem but don’t you think we should wait til your arm heals first?”

Buffy gave a quick glance at Dean and knew immediately that he sided with Dawn. She looked up at Sam who was leaning against a doorframe and Owen who was watching her intently from his desk. She turned back to Dawn.

“I’ll be fine,” she replied a little coldly, “My arm is sore but it will be better by morning.”

Dean frowned at her. “Buffy, your elbow was dislocated.”

“ _Was_ dislocated,” Buffy replied, pulling her arm out of his hands. “It’s not anymore. By tomorrow morning it will just be bruised and besides, I’ve fought with worse injuries before. We need to get this nest, Dean, we need to stop this threat. Why are you fighting me on this?” He put his hand on her leg in a comforting gesture. Sam stepped forward and interrupted.

“How are we going to kill that many vampires?”

Buffy turned to Sam and frowned. “Um, like I said, Dawn can do that artificial sunlight spell and we can take out the remainder.”

Sam raised his eyebrows. “It’s just, well, I know that those vampires you killed out at the farm turned to dust but the ones we kill have never done that. Sunlight didn’t kill them.”

Buffy turned to Dean who nodded. “Yeah, we have to behead ours. Until yesterday I didn’t know there were different types.” Dean stood next to Sam.

“Turok-Han,” Dawn said suddenly.

Three pairs of male eyes looked at her confused whilst Buffy just rolled her own. “It wasn’t a Turok-Han, Dawn. They’d be dead if it was.”

“What’s a Turok-Han?” Sam asked, moving to sit next to Dawn.

“Buffy calls them ubervamps. They are an ancient, primordial race that are basically powerful killing machines. They are like animals, almost completely single-minded. They are the vampires that vampires fear.”

“And they are a myth. I found a text that talked about them. They are essentially vampire Neanderthals,” Owen interrupted. “But they became extinct a long time ago.”

Dawn shook her head. “They’re not extinct. They are just not here anymore. When the First tried to take us out, it created an army in hell of Turok-Han’s. I mean, there were thousands. Andrew said it was like Lord of the Rings. A few got out of the Hellmouth though. The first one we saw almost killed Buffy.” Dawn looked across and gave a small, sad smile, the memory vivid in her mind. Buffy saw Dean wince.

“Are they that strong? Strong enough to take out a Slayer?” Sam asked.

Dawn turned back to him but Buffy spoke first. “They are strong, not to be underestimated, but we took care of it.”

Dawn bristled. She remembered Buffy’s limp body being carried in by Xander that night. She remembered the feeling that her sister was dead again. She turned quickly around to Buffy.

“Damn it Buffy! It wasn’t that easy. Don’t lie to them. I thought you were dead when Xander carried you in that night. You couldn’t walk; you were completely covered in blood. Your blood! The next day you were just one walking bruise. And that was after round two with the same one! You hadn’t even hurt it.”

Dawn took a deep breath as she tried to control her anger. It had been a while since she had lost control so easily. She didn’t want to be around when Buffy was taken out, but she couldn’t stand the thought that she wouldn’t be able to give Buffy all the help she needed.

Buffy, however, was taken aback. It had been months since she had seen Dawn before Willow called her back to Cleveland. Dawn had grown up a lot and they had barely fought with each other. Even when fighting side by side, Dawn had shown Buffy that she had trained hard. She still had the sometimes overwhelming need to protect her baby sister but she didn’t feel she needed to watch her every second now. She knew that Dawn had issues with her death, especially still feeling responsible.

Buffy’s mouth hung open momentarily. “I wasn’t lying Dawn. In case you have forgotten, we took out the entire army. We went into hell and took out the entire army.”

At this comment, Dawn stood and her eyes narrowed on Buffy. “I didn’t forget Buffy. I also didn’t forget the show you put on for us all. Making us run from the Turok-Han before you fought it.”

Buffy stood angrily and faced Dawn. “I did that to prove to you that it was not unbeatable. That it could be taken out. And it was!”

Sam stood slowly and moved over towards Dean, both men giving the women some room to fight it out.

“Aarggh!!!” Dawn screamed, “Did you lose brain cells during that fight? It spent the majority of the fight throwing your ass around like a rag doll, throwing you through walls and things. That wasn’t an easy fight!”

“I never said it was easy. In fact I remember saying that it was hard and painful. But it dusted. Just like the rest of them. They can be killed.”

“So can you!” Dawn yelled before spinning around and storming towards the back yard.

Buffy stood momentarily looking as though she had just been slapped before she marched out the front door, slamming it behind her. Dean and Sam stood stunned. They looked at Owen who shrugged and started typing away on the computer again. Both men then turned and walked out separate doors.

* * *

Dawn was standing in the middle of the moonlit lawn, looking down at the ground and fuming. She was trying to calm herself down by breathing when she heard the back door open and shut. She listened as the footsteps walked down the stairs and towards her. When they got within range, she spun around and kicked, landing a foot in the middle of Sam’s chest and sending him stumbling to the ground. Sam held up his hands.

“Woah, it’s just me.”

Dawn stared down at him. “I know,” she replied, “Fight me.”

Sam slowly stood up. “I’m not going to fight you Dawn.” He brushed himself off and her next word surprised him.

“Please?”

Sam looked up at her. He could see how angry and upset she was and he understood that she wanted to get it out of her system. He took a deep breath and removed his jacket, tossing it on the railing. She removed hers and threw it toward a tree behind her. They both moved into defensive stances. Sam knew that Dawn had something she needed to work out and remained on the defensive, protecting himself from the many blows. Dawn had received a great deal of training but Sam was still impressed with her strength. She could definitely hold her own and her small frame concealed a deceptive amount of strength.

After a good many blows and even a few hits that Sam was sure he was going to feel tomorrow, Dawn stopped suddenly and let her arms fall to her sides. Sam paused, trying to determine if it was a ruse or not but when he looked into her eyes, he saw the tears welling up. Her bottom lip trembled slightly. He dropped his arms and stepped forward. Dawn gave a small whimper before launching herself into his waiting arms and they sunk slowly to the ground. He held her in his arms as she let out big sobs.

* * *

Dean closed the front door quietly behind him. Buffy was standing on the last step, holding onto the railing. She closed her eyes and waited for Dean to start talking. He paused, unsure of what to do, what to say.

“Buffy,” he began.

There was no response from her. Hoping she didn’t kick his ass, he descended the stairs and stood on the front lawn in front of her. He waited until she looked up at him before continuing.

“I can’t protect her.”

Dean frowned. “Of course you can. You just need to fight side by side. Watch each others’ backs.”

“No, I mean, from me dying.” Buffy looked at the ground. “It’s gonna happen. And probably soon. I can’t protect her from that and she is going to hurt. I mean, listen to her, she’s already hurting. She’s like a time bomb waiting to go off. This waiting for me to die is killing her too.”

She looked up into Dean’s eyes and he saw her tears. He lifted a hand and wiped away a tear that was falling down her face.

“Yeah, it’s gonna hurt like hell but you have to fight, you take down every son of a bitch you can. You let her know that you died fighting to make this world a better place. We can’t sit this one out Buffy, this war, we know what’s out there and we need to protect those that don’t know.” He leaned his forehead against hers and closed his eyes. “We need to protect those that do.”

He felt Buffy nodding. He opened his eyes and took her face in his. “How is your arm really?”

Buffy let out a small laugh. “I can use it; I just can’t hit anything hard. It really will be alright tomorrow. It just needs rest.”

Dean leaned in and gave her a small kiss. “How about now?” He felt Buffy’s smile against his lips.

“Much better.” Buffy took a deep breath and looked up at him. “Can you please sleep with me tonight?”

Dean’s face lit up with a huge cocky smile. She pushed him back.

“Not like that. I just want someone to hold me.” Another tear managed to slip silently down her cheek and Dean pulled her into a hug.

“Of course I will,” he said, as they turned around and walked into the house.

* * *

Owen was sitting silently in the lounge room sifting through the files on his computer. He had managed to download numerous texts onto his computer and had even been sent quite a few from some online friends. Not long after they had left, Dean and Buffy walked back though the front door, Dean holding onto a still crying Buffy. Neither seemed to notice him as they headed straight up the stairs. Ten minutes later, Sam and Dawn returned from the back yard in almost the same state and both also walked past him and headed up the stairs. Owen shook his head and gave a huge smile.

* * *

Dawn opened the door to her room and stopped dead in her tracks. Sam noticed her stilled movement and walked down the corridor to her room and looked inside. Dean and Buffy were both curled up on her bed, fast asleep, Dean’s arms wrapped protectively around Buffy’s small body and a peaceful look on both of their faces.

Sam smiled. He wondered how many times Dean had slept in the same bed as a beautiful woman and only slept. He doubted it was many but he also knew that Dean was in love with her. Dean hadn’t known but Sam had been aware of every nightmare Dean had about her; the panic he would sometimes wake up in. He saw the far away look Dean had gotten when something reminded him of her and he knew no matter how far they had gone, or for how long, Dean would never have forgotten her. He turned to Dawn and gave her a soft smile.

“Let’s leave them be. You can have the other bed in my room.”

Dawn gave a small grateful smile in return and silently closed the door, following Sam down the hall to his and Dean’s room.


	7. Chapter 7

* * *

_For it was not into my ear you whispered, but into my heart. It was not my lips you kissed, but my soul – Judy Garland_

  
Sam woke the next morning and rolled over checking on Dawn. She laid peacefully asleep, her long eyelashes resting softly on her skin. She let out a drawn breath before her eyes fluttered open and she looked across at Sam and gave him a soft smile.

“Sleep well?” she asked sitting up and stretching her arms above her head. Sam felt his mouth go dry and nodded in response. “Let’s go downstairs, I’m starving!”

They both climbed out of bed and headed down the stairs together. As they entered the kitchen they moved toward the counter and sat on stools opposite Buffy and Dean who were standing. Buffy silently poured coffee into a cup in front of her before passing it to Dean who followed suit. She then added sugar before passing the bowl to Dean. She stirred it as he added sugar and stirred and at the same time, they pushed the mugs in front of their siblings. Sam raised an eyebrow to Dawn who shrugged.

Buffy then moved off to the side pulling two bowls out of a cupboard and reaching for a box of cereal. Dean moved to the fridge and withdrew the milk and stopped at the cutlery drawer taking out two spoons. They moved efficiently around the kitchen and returned to the counter at the same time. Neither said a word, nor looked at the other.

Buffy separated the two bowls and poured cereal into each before sliding them to Dean. Dean added milk and the spoons before placing them in front of Dawn and Sam. Buffy returned the cereal and pulled out two small plates as Dean returned the milk and took two pieces of toast out of the toaster and brought them to the counter as Buffy returned with the plates. She passed a plate to him as he dropped the toast onto her plate and both simultaneously reached for butter knives before buttering their toast.

Buffy and Dean both took a bite out of their toast as they looked up at Dawn and Sam who were staring at them with raised eyebrows.

“What?” Buffy asked with a mouthful of toast. Sam looked over at Dawn and they gave each other suppressed smiles.

“Nothing,” they replied in unison before dipping their spoons into their bowls and eating their cereal.

* * *

The five occupants climbed out of the car and Buffy nodded to Dean. Nodding back, he grabbed Sam and they disappeared behind a row of trees. Buffy moved silently in the opposite direction, Dawn’s footfalls reassuring as the moved closer to the mansion. She found it somewhat eerie to be back in the same place she was nearly killed the night before but she pushed it aside. She needed to keep her head in the game if she was going to protect Dawn and stop an apocalypse. Buffy ducked behind a large boulder and Dawn and Owen crouched on either side of her.

“How do you want to get there?” Dawn asked.

Buffy scanned the lawn. There was nobody in sight, demon or otherwise, and no movement from inside. She shrugged.

“Run?” Dawn rolled her eyes and Owen grinned. “Dean and Sam are approaching from the other side so it’s really our only option. I mean, there’s better cover there so it won’t be as big an issue for them.”

Seeing no time like the present, Buffy leapt to her feet and began sprinting across the lawn. Somewhere behind her she heard Dawn and Owen running as well. It was only when Owen cried out in pain that she stopped and turned. She saw large iron jaws clamped around his ankle and she realised with startling clarity and horror that it had been a trap. Her head swivelled around to catch sight of Dawn. Dawn was a few metres from her and moving toward Owen; she didn’t see the vampires moving out from the trees but Buffy didn’t see the demons moving out from the mansion behind her.

Dawn glanced up and each sister saw a look of panic on the other’s face. Before either could turn around to assess the danger personally posed to them, Dawn felt a number of hands grabbing her, one pressing a cloth to her face. The fumes on it burnt her nostrils and she tried to hold her breath as she struggled but the fumes invaded nevertheless. Tears welled up in her eyes as they too burned and as the world started fading she noticed Buffy turning around, an arrow sticking out of her back, before she crumpled to the ground.

Buffy tried to ignore the sharp pain in her back as she tried to look for Dawn again, chastising herself for taking her eyes off of her sister, but the pain was great as the muscles tried to compensate and her eyelids grew heavy. She barely saw the demon standing above her as her eyes closed and she succumbed to the darkness.

* * *

Buffy forced her eyes open and glanced around the room she was in. It appeared to be a dining room but the furniture had long since been trashed. There was a body across the room, lying on the floor facing the wall and Buffy didn’t need to get any closer to know she was dead. She could only assume she’d been one of the former occupants of the house. Buffy couldn’t see anyone else in the room and one glance outside told her that dusk had already approached. The last rays of sunlight filtered through the tattered curtains and Buffy let out a deep breath, determined to see the glass as half full: at least the ritual wasn’t going down now.

She tried to remove the bonds from her hands but the sharp edges of the arrow still embedded in her back caused her to gasp in pain. Closing her eyes and gritting her teeth, she pulled her hands apart and felt the thin rope snap. Obviously they’d thought that an arrow to the back was gonna stop her from trying to reach her sister in time and that proper rope was an unnecessary burden. That would be their loss.

Buffy saw a shadow move in front of the French doors to her left and she got out of her chair as best she could. Standing beside them, she slowed her breath as the handle softly turned and the door opened. Her fist flew out but she pulled it back when she saw the familiar leather jacket. Dean ducked and turned before pulling Sam inside and softly shutting the doors.

“What happened?”

“Trap. Owen was taken down first before they got Dawn and me. I don’t know where either of them are.” Sam stepped toward her but Buffy merely turned around. “Get it out,” she ordered.

Sam shook his head. “I can’t Buffy. It’s an arrow; you can’t just pull them out. If I do, it’s gonna cause more damage and you’ll likely bleed out.”

Buffy glared before turning to Dean. “Pull it out.”

“Sam’s right. If you bleed out, we’re down one more player.”

“I’m not walking around with an arrow sticking out of my back. If you don’t pull it out, one of them will.”

Dean pulled out a pocket knife and flicked the blade up. It made a sharp crack before his gaze levelled with hers.

“I’ve got nothing to dull the pain.”

Buffy stepped closer. “Just get it out.”

Dean lit a match under the blade and ran it along the length. As the match burned down, Sam tore a bigger hole in her shirt and winced as he saw the inflamed skin around the arrow. Dean dropped the match and pushed the knife straight into the hole. He simultaneously cauterised the skin and pulled out the arrow, causing Buffy to let out a small groan in pain. Her knees buckled and she knelt heavily on the ground letting out deep breaths and trying to clear her vision.

Strong arms lifted her up and Buffy took a moment to lean against Dean, drawing her strength together before looking up at him with grateful eyes. He gave her a soft smile before a noise outside the doors drew their attention. All three saw shadows moving past the doors and they crept forward. Dean opened a door silently and peered out.

“Thurman,” he said as he turned back to them, “looked like he was in bad shape.”

Buffy took a deep deliberate breath before walking further into the room. She stopped and spun toward them. “Go after him and get him out. I’ll go after Dawn.”

“You said you didn’t know where she was,” Dean countered.

“I don’t, but I’ll find her.”

“Buffy, you’re injured, you can’t go out there alone. Why don’t we all go after Thurman and then find Dawn?”

“He’ll slow us down further. I’m almost positive he’s got a broken ankle so he can’t walk out - you both need to go after him. I have to find Dawn before they start the ritual.”

“Buffy- ”

Buffy stalked toward him. “Tell me you wouldn’t do the same thing,” she whispered, almost growling, “Tell me you wouldn’t go after Sam.”

She saw the hurt flicker across his eyes at the low blow before they hardened in acceptance. He grabbed her forcefully, pulling him toward her in a punishing kiss before releasing her and opening the door. He motioned for Sam to leave and Sam offered her a small smile before walking carefully out the door. Dean stopped at the doorframe and looked back over his shoulder, his eyes briefly meeting hers.

“Don’t die.”

And then he was gone. Buffy closed her eyes in both emotional and physical pain, taking in a deep breath before looking back at the partially opened door. Dawn. Dawn was her focus now. She hadn’t let Dawn go before and she was no more inclined to now. She steeled herself and walked out of the room, glancing both ways before picking the route that screamed of demon activity.

* * *

Dean and Sam watched as a demon exited the room, closing the door behind her. She looked to the left before turning to the right and disappearing around the corner. Dean nudged Sam and they moved quickly to the door, opening it and stepping inside. Two vampires looked up in surprise before baring their teeth and snarling at the Hunters. Dean and Sam quickly pulled out a knife each and squared off against their attackers.

Dean let himself get hit twice before seeing the opening he was waiting for. He lashed out with an uppercut to the jaw before bringing up the sword and decapitating the vampire. There was a small look of surprise before the vampire disintegrated into dust and Dean stepped forward to see Owen lying propped against the far wall. Owen half smiled before casting a glance at Sam.

Dean moved forward and assessed his friend’s injuries. He definitely had a broken ankle; Dean could see all the way to the bone on his right ankle and considering how Owen was leaning to his left, he’d probably have some broken ribs as well.

“Can you move?”

Owen nodded and put his arm around Dean’s neck as Dean helped him stand. He stood on one foot and winced in pain. Dean looked over at Sam and saw him decapitate his foe, the body falling uselessly to the ground as the head rolled slightly toward Dean and Owen. Dean raised an eyebrow and looked at Sam. Sam shrugged.

“Guess he’s one of the ones that doesn’t.”

Dean nodded in Owen’s direction and Sam came to hold him up on the other side. All three walked carefully out the door and down the hall. Sam saw the door that he and Dean had entered in and led them out toward it. Once outside, Sam and Dean looked around for any vampires or demons. Seeing the all-clear, they began walking Owen to the Impala until Sam felt Dean stop. Dean looked back at the house before looking at Sam.

“I’ve gotta go help her. We can’t let this play out the same.”

Dropping Owen’s arm, he raced back toward the house. Sam shifted Owen’s weight and began walking faster to the Impala.

* * *

As Dean walked toward the main lounge room he heard sounds of battle. He stealthily pulled out his knife and advanced. As he turned the corner, he saw Buffy’s sword strike that of an opponent’s before she jumped in the air, avoiding the sword aimed at her feet. Dean swung into action and attacked a vampire who was watching from the sidelines. Taken by surprise, he quickly turned to dust and Dean moved onto the next.

Buffy spun, her sword aimed at the demon’s throat when it was blocked by a sword. The demon smiled before backhanding her. Misjudging the next swing, Buffy failed to see the demon kicking out her foot until it was too late. The foot pushed her off-balance, causing her to hit the ground on her knees. She felt the handle of the sword hit her back wound punishingly and she cried out in pain before pushing the demon back and standing shakily to her feet.

Buffy heard her name being called out across the room in panic and turned to see Dean decapitate a vampire and start advancing toward her. The minute lapse in concentration cause the demon to grin as she lashed out, the tip of her sword piercing Buffy’s shoulder. Buffy saw Dean begin running toward her before another demon stepped in his path, attacking him with a mace. She drew her own sword up to defend against other blows but saw the handle on a path to connect with her head. Only having a second to move, Buffy turned her head but the sword’s aim was still true and it connect with her temple. The force pushed her backward and she barely heard the crack of her head hitting stone before everything went dark.

* * *

Sam ran around the corner and quickly surveyed the room before him. He could see Buffy in front of the fireplace, just as he had in his vision, with blood covering the stone face. He couldn’t tell from this distance if she was alive or not but he could see Dean fighting a Sisterhood demon. Not wasting anymore time, Sam turned and headed for the stairs, taking two at a time. He looked to the left and saw a large closed door and moved toward it.

Opening it carefully, he poked his head inside and could see Dawn at the far end of the room. Dean had only had mere seconds to untie Dawn before a demon stepped out from a side room. Sam quickly began untying her ropes, trying not to further injure her bloodied wrists and kept an eye out to his left. As the last knot loosened, Dawn’s body slumped forward and he moved to grab her before she fell.

The door at the far end opened and Sam saw Dean’s head poking through. Seeing his brother and Dawn, he rushed forward but Sam’s glance to the left had him rethinking his strategy as a shadow moved along the wall closer to them. Dean gripped his bloodied blade tighter as he moved along the wall. As the demon stepped out behind Sam, Dean leapt forward and slit her throat. Her hands rushed up to stem the flow of blood and Dean simply stepped back as she fell face forward onto the floor.

“You okay?”

Sam nodded. “Yeah, let’s just get out of here.”

Dean headed for the door as Dawn stirred. She opened her eyes to see Sam’s concerned ones staring back at her. “Buffy?” she asked.

Sam looked over toward Dean for a response but he’d already disappeared out of the room. Sam placed Dawn on her feet. She took a moment to steady herself before she began walking out of the room, keeping hold of Sam’s hand as she moved out in search of her sister. They saw Dean running into a room and they hurried down the stairs. There were demon bodies everywhere and as they turned the corner, Sam and Dawn watched as Dean knelt down and placed his fingers to her neck.

Dawn felt the pit of her stomach drop as Dean hung his head before picking her up in his arms. Buffy was cradled against Dean’s chest, her blonde hair falling over her face and Dawn watched as her hand hung limply at her side. There was blood everywhere, especially at the back of her head where it had matted her hair. Dean locked eyes with her.

“She’s alive.”

Those two words reenergised Dawn and she gave him a brilliant smile. “Let’s go.”

As the Impala pulled away, there was a loud bang and the sky momentarily lit up before black smoke filled the air. Dean looked back in the mirror to see flames licking the sky over the surrounding trees but as he looked back to the road before him, his gaze fell on his three injured passengers. This night had been hard and almost quite costly. He stared at the road the entire drive back, oblivious to the conversation as he became lost in his thoughts.

As the Impala pulled up to the curb, Sam quickly climbed out and helped Owen up to his house. Owen had asked to go straight home, insisting he had a friend who was a doctor and had treated all of his prior injuries on the job. Dawn climbed out after Owen and gave a cursory glance back at her sister before seeing Dean. She gave him a small smile, closed the door and headed up to the house.

Dean opened the back door and bent down to look at Buffy. He brushed a lock of hair away from her face before pressing a small kiss to her forehead. He’d done a lot of thinking on the drive back.

“I’m sorry baby,” he whispered as he brushed his thumb over her lips. He gave her one last look, memorising every detail before standing up and lifting her from the car.

As he walked into the front door he could hear Dawn and Owen arguing good-naturedly in the kitchen. Dawn was insisting he let her take a look at his injuries, even just the simple ones, and he kept swatting her hands away. Dean climbed the staircase and entered Buffy and Dawn’s room. He laid her gently on the bed before walking out and seeing Sam entering their room.

Sam pulled a first aid kit out from his duffle and cleaned the superficial wounds, keeping one eye on his brother. Dean had been oddly silent in the car and Sam knew something was wrong. Dean pulled his duffle out from under the bed and began packing all of his clothes into it.

“Pack your stuff,” Dean ordered without turning around.

Sam frowned. “Dean?”

“Pack. Your. Stuff,” he enunciated.

Sam closed the box and stood as he realised what Dean was asking. He squared his shoulders. “I can’t let you walk away from her again, Dean, she doesn’t deserve it.”

Dean turned around angrily and shoved Sam into the wall behind him. “No, Sam, I’ll tell you what she doesn’t deserve. She doesn’t deserve to watch me die. I won’t let her. Now pack your crap or I’ll leave you behind.”

He let go of Sam forcefully, pushing him back into the wall slightly as he turned back to his bag. Sam sucked in a deep breath. He knew Dean wouldn’t even say goodbye; he couldn’t say goodbye to everyone but Buffy.

“Dean, I know it will be hard but don’t you think she has the right to decide for herself?”

Dean remained quiet and Sam thought he was going to ignore him. Dean’s muscles had tensed and he turned around slowly.

“She nearly died because of me.”

Sam frowned. “What?”

“Today. She went down and I called out to her, threw her off her game and it gave the demon the chance to take her down. I couldn’t get to her in time.”

“Dean…”

“Just stop Sammy. I know that when I die, she’s gonna want to be there. I don’t want her to watch me die nor do I want her to try and stop it.” Dean turned back around and zipped his duffle. “I won’t let her sacrifice herself for me.”

“But you can make the sacrifice yourself?”

Sam and Dean both turned toward Dawn who was standing in the doorway with her arms crossed. She had an incredulous look on her face but her eyes had darkened in anger. Dean stepped forward furiously.

“Fine, I’ll take her with me. She can unsuccessfully try to stop me from dying and Sam can bring back her body for you. Would that make you happy?”

“Don’t be an idiot! She’s more than capable of making her own choices, so let her. She loves you, Dean, she _loves_ you!”

“And I love her!” he yelled. Dean turned away from Dawn and took a deep breath before picking up his bag and lugging it over his shoulder. “That’s why I’m gonna make this decision for the both of us.” He looked over his shoulder at Sam. “If you’re not in the car in five minutes, I’m leaving without you.”

Dean walked past Dawn and out the door. They could hear his heavy footsteps on the stairs and Dawn turned her angry gaze on Sam.

“Dawn,” he began, “I’m, I’m sorry.”

“You’re going with him.”

It was a statement, not a question and it made Sam feel even guiltier. He turned back to his bag and put the first aid kit inside. The sound of the zipper was so final and it brought Dawn further into the room. He looked over at her and saw the hurt look on her face.

“Please, please stay. Make Dean stay.”

“Dawn- ”

“This is going to break her!”

Tears fell down her face and Sam drew her in, holding onto her as she cried. Her petite body shook against his and he pressed a soft kiss into her hair. Her fingers clenched his shirt and he closed his eyes in pain. Peeling her fingers from his shirt, he turned away from her and picked up his duffle. Sam turned back to her and paused, indecision etched across his face, before he pulled her toward him and pressed his lips softly against hers.

Breaking away, Sam saw another tear trail down her face and he brushed his thumb over it as she opened her eyes. He tried to convey as much sorrow over the decision as he felt before walking away from her and down the stairs. The Impala had already been started and Sam threw his duffle on the backseat and climbed in, his door barely closed before Dean sped away, desperate to put some distance between himself and his hurt.

* * *

Buffy opened her eyes slowly and groaned as her headache came back in full force. She took a moment to notice her surroundings and her face landed on Dawn’s. It was filled with sorrow and Buffy tried to see if there was any grief in her eyes. Seeing none, and the absence of Dean, Buffy’s heart broke.


End file.
